Plantar Fasciitis

Posted August 30, 2018byBrian Mister

Plantar Fasciitis is one of the most common injuries in running. Everyone cringes a little bit when you hear the PF word because we all know that pain. We know that we’ve been right where that friend is when you got just a little too excited about your new hobby of running. Let’s learn a little more about it and what all we can do to recover from it and prevent it!

Diagnosis

You can find some pretty detailed analysis of what fascia or PF is just by googling, so we figured we’d make it a little more simple. Your plantar fascia connects your heel to your toes and helps support the arch of your foot. Simple enough. Seems pretty important when running, huh? This fun little ligament can get pretty upset at you if you overwork it or don’t keep it updated on your happenings. It’s like showing up to a meeting without an agenda. Your plantar fascia wants to know what’s going on, what adventure are you getting ready to take it on? How do you let it know? You stretch it, you slowly build it up. You don’t go from getting a gym membership to bench pressing 240 pounds. We’ll learn more about prevention in the section below.

- Make sure you have the proper shoe. Please come see us if you’re not sure.

- Stretch and massage your foot muscles. Every morning.

Let’s jump into getting you fixed up!

Recovery and Prevention

If your mom didn’t nail it into your head, I’m sure a coach has along the way and it applies to PF as well. RICE, RICE, RICE.

R - Rest // Yep, it's no fun to hear, but you’ve got to do it. This is the most important step.

I - Ice // Take it a step further and freeze a water bottle and then roll your foot on it.

C - Compression // We’ll go over some products for this a little further on.

E - Elevate // Sit back and relax. If you need some Netflix suggestions, ask us. There’s some great running documentaries out there.

Here’s a few more that are a little more specific:

1. Don’t walk bare foot at all! We sell Oofos sandals not just because they’re pretty. They are super helpful with this injury. Wear them as soon as you get out of the bed in the morning, and around the house. Don’t wear cheap flip flops, or sandals that allow a lot of flexion of your foot. The same goes for your work shoes. The less mobile your foot is while it’s flared up, the better.

2. Before you step out of bed in the morning, “stick” massage your calf. You’ll want to make sure the muscle is relaxed, so keep your knee bent.

3. It might look a little goofy, but we sell a fun little contraption called the Strassburg sock and it will do wonders for you. Swing by and check it out sometime soon.

4. Massage the bottom of your feet as much as possible - at work (if you sit), while watching TV, when you’re eating dinner. There’s many ways to do this. A simple golf ball or lacrosse ball can do the trick depending on how deep/pointed you want to go. As mentioned before, a frozen water bottle can do the trick to. We also sell a Moji massage tool that is perfect for just this and it can be frozen or heated as well.

5. Jump into some of our yoga classes (they’re only $5) or any that are nearby. Focus on stretching those calves when you’re getting deep in downward dog! We also offer an Injury Prevention class

6. Try wearing a firmer insert in your running shoes, and even work shoes, if you can. We sell some options at the store that range from $25-$40. The idea here is the same as putting a cast on a broken bone. By using a firm insert that butts up against your arch, you are effectively immobilizing it, to enable healing.